1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector and a method of assembling it.
2. Description of the Related Art
A female connector has a housing formed with cavities for receiving female terminal fittings and a lock is formed at a side surface of each cavity for retaining the female terminal fitting in the cavity. The retained female terminal fitting is connected with a tab of a male terminal fitting inserted through a front opening of the cavity.
Mold-removal holes are left in the front surface of the housing as the locks are formed. Thus, leading ends of the tabs may erroneously enter the mold-removal holes if the male and female connectors are not positioned properly during connection. Erroneous insertion of the tabs has become more common in view of recent trends to miniaturize connectors. Accordingly, there is a demand for a connector that makes such erroneous insertion unlikely.
A terminal fitting to be accommodated in the cavity of the female connector generally has a tubular main portion with a front end and a tab insertion opening in the front end. A barrel is arranged behind the box portion and can be crimped into connection with an end of a wire. A resilient contact is folded back from the front end of the main portion and into the main portion.
A tab of a male terminal fitting enters the tubular main portion through the tab insertion opening when the female connector is connected properly with a mating male connector. Thus, the tab contacts the resilient contact to establish an electrical connection therebetween (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,540).
An electrical connection test for the female connector is carried out by inserting an electrically conductive probe through the tab insertion opening of the female terminal fitting to directly contact the resilient contact of the female terminal fitting. However, the probe could permanently set or plastically deformed the resilient contact.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to avoid the erroneous insertion of a tab.
Another object of the invention is to avoid damaging the resilient contact during an electrical connection test.